Health and social care partners who have been working together to improve care for vulnerable patients in the community have been shortlisted for two major awards.
Following thousands of entries to the HSJ Awards, the multidisciplinary team – known as Thanet Acute Response Team (ART) – has been recognised for its commitment to provide innovative patient care.
Doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and care workers across five organisations set up a rapid response service to help meet the needs of complex, frail and vulnerable patients in Thanet.
Led by GPs, the service provides wrap-around, specialised care to help treat patients at home as an alternative to a hospital admission.
The service was set up by NHS Kent and Medway, Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust, Thanet Health Community Interest Company, South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, and local GP surgeries.
Since it launched six years ago, there has been a ten per cent decrease in emergency department attendance and a 15 per cent decrease in bed occupancy rates.
Dr Rakesh Koria, GP lead for the acute response team, said:
“Colleagues from across the health and care sector set up the service to help manage patients more effectively in the community.
“Thanet is an area with high deprivation, health inequalities and limited resources, so we were keen to offer an innovative service to deliver on these challenges.
“Patients are offered an alternative to hospital with a service that provides care for their medical and social needs until future support has been planned.
“We pride ourselves on working together as one team, regardless of our roles and organisations, to deliver the best care for patients and their families.”
Sarah Wolf, Senior Clinical Decision-maker at Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust, added: “This is a service which responds quickly and safely to give patients hospital-level treatment at home.
"Every day, we support around 25 people who might otherwise be taken to A&E to stay safe and well at home, if that is what they want.
"Having a wider group of professionals to work with really helps. From the nursing teams, to the GPs, support workers and therapists, everyone works together to wrap services around our patients.”
The winners of the HSJ Awards will be revealed this evening at the Evolution Centre in London.
Find out more about the HSJ Awards.